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Thursday, 22 December 2016

FG Begins Ex-Delta Gov Ibori's Extradition Process

The Federal Government has commenced the process of extraditing a former governor of Delta State, Mr. James Ibori, from the United Kingdom,,

The Southwark Crown Court had, on April 17, 2012, sentenced Ibori to 13 years in prison after the ex-governor pleaded guilty to 10 counts of money laundering and stealing $250m from the Delta State treasury.

Ibori, a Peoples Democratic Party chieftain, was the governor of the state between 1999 and 2007.

He was, however, released on Wednesday following a court order that declined the UK government’s request for an extension of his sentence.

The UK Home Office had opposed Ibori’s release on the grounds that the process of the permanent forfeiture of his assets had yet to be completed.

According to the BBC, the UK Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, did not intend to deport Ibori to Nigeria until he handed over £18m of the “proceeds of crime” he alleged the ex-governor held.

The convicted former governor, was, however, allowed to go home on the condition that he would not travel out of the UK.

He is currently residing at his residence on Abbey Road, London, where he is under strict surveillance from where he will report to the UK Police weekly.

Impeccable sources within the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission told The PUNCH on Wednesday that the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), had directed the EFCC to forward the file containing the 170 charges earlier brought against Ibori in Nigeria.

The EFCC operative told punch that the Federal Government would liaise with the British government to ensure that Ibori was extradited to Nigeria.

A source in the EFCC said, “We have started the process of extradition in conjunction with the Office of the AGF. We had started extradition process years ago but stopped it since he was in prison.

“We have now reactivated the process. It is the AGF that will communicate with the British Government, which will then extradite Ibori to Nigeria. The court process will be sent to the UK Government for extradition.”

When asked why all Ibori’s London properties had not yet been forfeited to the Federal Government despite the ample time, the EFCC source explained that the British system was such that asset recovery was done post-conviction.

He added, “So, they are just starting the process and that is why he has been asked not to leave the UK but should be reporting every week.

“The British Government wanted him to remain in custody but the court said he could keep coming from home; so, he will remain in the UK for now. If he does not show up in the police station, then it will be assumed that he has absconded.”

Speaking with one of our correspondents on Thursday, the spokesman for the British High Commission in Nigeria, Mr. Joe Abuku, said the UK government would continue to assist Nigeria with the recovery of properties.

He, however, said he could not comment on the legal proceedings against Ibori.

In a terse text message to punch, the spokesman for the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said, “His (Ibori’s) fate will be determined by the provisions of the law.”

A Federal High Court sitting in Asaba, Delta State, had, on December 17, 2009, discharged and acquitted Ibori of all 170 charges of corruption brought against him by the EFCC.

In 2010, his case was reopened by the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

However, all attempts to arrest the ex-governor proved abortive as the 40 policemen guarding him at his country home in Oghara, Delta State, refused to allow the EFCC to arrest him.

Hundreds of youths in Delta State also confronted the EFCC operatives and prevented them from arresting the ex-governor by blocking the roads leading to his home with logs of wood.

Ibori fled Oghara in controversial circumstances and subsequently fled the country to Dubai, compelling the anti-graft agency to declare the fleeing ex-governor wanted.

The Federal Government could not apply for Ibori’s extradition as there was no extradition treaty between the United Arab Emirates and Nigeria at the time.

However, the British Government sought Ibori’s extradition and he was deported to the UK, where he was convicted and jailed for money laundering and fraud.

However, the EFCC took the matter to the Benin Division of the Appeal Court, where a three-man panel of justices on May 15, 2014, ruled that the ex-governor, who was serving a 13-year jail term in a London prison at the time, had a case to answer.

The EFCC subsequently said in a statement in 2014 that the ex-governor would be re-arrested upon the completion of his prison sentence in the UK.The EFCC statement read, “With this judgment, the coast is clear for Ibori to face trial in Nigeria upon the completion of his jail term in London.”

Some of the properties traced to the ex-governor include a house in Hampstead, North London, worth £2.2m; a property in Shaftesbury, Dorset, worth £311,000; a £3.2m mansion in Sandton, near Johannesburg, South Africa; a fleet of armoured Range Rovers valued at £600,000; a £120,000 Bentley Continental GT; and a Mercedes-Benz Maybach 62 bought for €407,000 cash.

Ex-Delta governor released after four years

Ibori was released from the UK prison, where he had spent four years and eight months.

A London court ruled that the Home Office had no more powers to hold the ex-governor, who had served six-and-a-half-years of his 13-year jail term.

Ibori was jailed on Tuesday, April 17, 2012, for 13 years by the Southwark Crown Court, London.

He had earlier spent 645 days in detention facilities in Dubai and the UK which were deducted from his total jail term.

The British Broadcasting Corporation reported on Wednesday that the application made by the Britain Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, that Ibori remained in the UK until he handed over £18m of “proceeds of crime”, failed.

According to the BBC, the presiding judge, Mrs. Justice May, said, “The Secretary of State appears to have taken it upon herself that Mr. Ibori does remain in this country, in apparent contradiction of the order served earlier this year to deport him.

“The position of the Secretary of State, as very candidly set out by Mr. Birdling (representing the home secretary), is that she accepts that there is an argument that she has no power to detain him.

“I have decided that the balance of convenience falls heavily in favour of his immediate release. I am not prepared to impose conditions involving tagging or curfews. You don’t hold someone just because it is convenient to do so and without plans to deport them.”

The judge, however, said the matter of Ibori’s deportation should be heard before the end of January.

Ibori is expected to face a fresh trial in the UK meant to forfeit his assets in the country to the British government.

For those who might not to know..According to google ''Extradition is the official process whereby one country transfers a suspected or convicted criminal to another country. Between countries, extradition is normally regulated by treaties''.

So happy he is free now, this man is a good man and I will vote for gum over and over, for those goats using the word thief for Ibori,you all are idiots, Theifnubu and most leaders are thieves and have no pity on the masses

I have always liked Ibori. Still do. So I have always wondered why the beam focused so much on him. But i know it doesn't really matter though as long as it's the right thing to do. Now,let's have other thieving politicians pay for their crimes,Teach them that kind of lesson Ibori was taught.

Good News to hear.He should be Extradited to Nigeria as soon as possible to come and start his Jail here for 101years.God will continue to punish them.Wicked Leaders such money shd have been used to Build good roads,Factories,industries,Hospitals for the masses to Benefit.

They should use this same way and apprehend the likes of tinubu. That one has kept his people under spell for so long. Robbed them blind. Buy pure water and I'm sure a certain percent goes to tinubu. How his people have remained silent is amazing and hoe they come out and shout corruption on top another governor while they are being led as cows by a more direct thief. Show me a thief greater than tinubu and obasanjo. At least here in the north, our governors don't have such effrontery.

Wait o 22 December 2016 at 08:40, your northern governors are not as corrupt? Yet the north is the most impoverish, the least educated and the least developed part of the country, despite the fact that the region has produced more presidents and top politicians than any part of the country. Are you pulling this comments out of your ass or are you high?

Only 18 million pounds. What of patience and her 15m dolls which she hasn't even spent. The one show spent nko. 1 million pounds dey learn Wey she dey. No conviction nothing. Now efccc wants to come and reap where dey did n9t sow. Bcos he is d scape goat. Abi it only UK that's can arrest abi. Is deziani not abroad why not send uk to arrest her too. Double standards ohhh. Our service is sooo shit.

Stella good morning abegi make Nigeria free this make, what's there stree self other that have been found guilty here in Nigeria how many have they sent to jail.abeg efcc and Co.make una free ibori,I'm not from delta before una go start to chop me raw but atleast the man pay for him crime by going to jail

What I don't understand is why he should forfeit his assets in the UK to the British government. Was it their money he allegedly stole? Britain, stealing from Nigeria and Africans since time immemorial. Imagine the impunity